The AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium, and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are currently engaged in a disagreement concerning the management and transfer of colonial-era geological records.

比利時特爾夫倫的非洲博物館與剛果民主共和國（DRC）政府，目前就殖民時期地質記錄的管理與移交問題存在分歧。

The archives in question comprise extensive handwritten documentation detailing the mineralogical mapping of the DRC during the Belgian colonial administration, which commenced under King Leopold II in 1885 and transitioned to a formal colony in 1908 until independence in 1960. Given that the DRC Ministry of Mines estimates that 90% of its critical mineral deposits—including cobalt, copper, lithium, and coltan—remain untapped, these records possess significant economic utility. Consequently, the DRC government has sought the expedited transfer and digitization of these materials to facilitate resource identification.

涉案檔案包含大量手寫文件，詳細記錄了比利時殖民管理時期剛果民主共和國的礦物分佈圖。該管理期始於 1885 年利奧波德二世國王，於 1908 年正式轉為殖民地，直到 1960 年獨立。鑑於剛果民主共和國礦業部估計，其 90% 的關鍵礦產儲量（包括鈷、銅、鋰與�鈳鉭鈮）仍未開發，這些記錄具有顯著的經濟價值。因此，剛果民主共和國政府尋求加速移交並將這些資料數位化，以利於資源識別。

This objective has led to the involvement of KoBold Metals, a US-based private entity funded by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. KoBold Metals has proposed to undertake the digitization of the archives to ensure public accessibility. However, the AfricaMuseum and the Belgian government have rejected this proposal. Director Bart Ouvry and spokesperson Florinda Baleci have asserted that the archives constitute public property and that the privatization of such records via a foreign corporate entity would be unethical and legally impermissible. Furthermore, the museum maintains that the 2022 Belgian law regarding the restitution of colonial collections does not extend to archival materials.

此目標導致了一家由傑夫·貝佐斯與比爾·蓋茨資助的美國私人實體 KoBold Metals 的介入。KoBold Metals 提議承接檔案的數位化工作以確保公眾可查閱。然而，非洲博物館與比利時政府拒絕了此提議。館長 Bart Ouvry 與發言人 Florinda Baleci 主張，這些檔案屬於公共財產，透過外國企業實體將此類記錄私有化是不道德且法律上不允許的。此外，博物館認為 2022 年比利時關於歸還殖民收藏品的法律並不延伸至檔案資料。

Notwithstanding this impasse, a state-sanctioned digitization project is currently underway, supported by the European Union and conducted in collaboration with the National Geological Survey of the DRC. This initiative utilizes artificial intelligence and is managed by museum scientists to ensure academic integrity. While the museum has denied allegations of external political pressure from the US administration, it has agreed to prioritize the transfer of data pertaining to three specific regions of high strategic importance to the Congolese government.

儘管陷入僵局，一個由歐盟支持並與剛果民主共和國國家地質調查局合作的政府授權數位化項目目前正在進行中。此計劃利用人工智慧，並由博物館科學家管理以確保學術完整性。雖然博物館否認受到美國政府的外部政治壓力，但已同意優先移交與剛果政府具有高度戰略重要性的三個特定區域之數據。

The AfricaMuseum intends to complete the full digitization of the archive within four to five years, maintaining institutional control over the process while providing limited access to the DRC government.

非洲博物館擬在四至五年內完成檔案的全數位化，在維持機構對過程控制權的同時，向剛果民主共和國政府提供有限的查閱權。